Amid soaring living costs, America’s biggest convenience-store chains quietly overcharge consumers

Guardian investigation: 7-Eleven and Circle K stores often fail to honor advertised prices – charging more at pump and register for gas, snacks, and other items

Marco Cruz pulled off a four-lane road into the parking lot of a Circle K convenience store in McAllen, Texas, 12 miles north of the US-Mexico border. It was 1.20am on a mild November night in 2025, and Cruz was looking for a bedtime snack after a day of visiting family and friends. He grabbed a pack of beef and jalapeño cheese sticks from the shelf, where they were priced at $3.99. At the counter, though, they rang up at $4.19.

Cruz asked the cashier to charge him the lower shelf price. The employee refused, he said, and threatened to call the police when Cruz grew more insistent. “All I’m asking you is honor the price,” Cruz told the attendant before leaving the store and, later, filing a complaint with the Texas attorney general.

Problems like these – register prices that exceed shelf prices, or advertised sales that don’t materialize – were becoming a regular annoyance for the 29-year-old. In just six months, Cruz said, he had run into similar issues at convenience stores at least five times. Earlier that day, he tried to buy two bottles of water at the same Circle K after seeing an in-store promotion offering a free energy drink with any such purchase. At the register, he said, the manager told him the offer was no longer valid.

Cruz is not alone, a Guardian investigation has found.